the importance of punctuality
A problem that we’re seeing all too frequently at the MISF is candidates that cannot be on time. It does not matter how talented you are, you still have to be on time. This includes being on time for both the interview and the job.
Lateness, especially without a call to explain, implies to me that you don’t care – either about the assignment, the interview, my time, or yourself enough to show up at the agreed-upon time. In some cases, it can get you fired.
I’d like to share a few incidents from the past few weeks that show
(*some details changed to protect the, um, innocent?)
1. The interview with me: Tom is a programming genius with a rare skill set. We set up a time for him to come to my office to talk about a position that we have for him. He calls me, 15 minutes before our scheduled interview time, to let me know that he’s “running a little late†for our 10:30 appointment. He shows up at 12:45 and is angry with me that I won’t cancel my next appointment to interview him.
2. The interview with my client: Leah is scheduled for a 11:00 interview with my client. She can’t find the building, and doesn’t let us know until 1:00. She finally makes it there, but the client won’t interview her, as she is in a meeting.
3. Working for my client: Kelly is a talented designer. She is charming and personable, and does amazing work. We send her to one of our most valuable clients who twice mention to her problems with her punctuality. We talk about it with her once the project is completed, and she jokingly mentions that it’s “not one of her strong suits.†She, not suprisingly, is late to the next assignment.
4. Getting yourself fired: John is on assignment at a client. He was late his first day, apologized and said that it would not happen again. He was over an hour late the next day, and tried to sneak in past his supervisor as to not call attention to his tardiness. The client called us and asked us to fire John.
Look, everyone is late now and again. Traffic happens, you get toothpaste on your interview suit, and sometimes you just need a little extra rest. But in the case of interviews, and especially when it’s been brought to your attention as a problem, it’s worth getting up earlier to ensure that it doesn’t happen.
In addition, most people have cell phones. Tiff and I encourage all of the people that we work with to program our number into their phone to call us if they’re going to be late. We’re far more sympathetic to a call before a candidate is late than we are to a call after the fact. Plus, it’s far easier to smooth things over with our clients if we know what’s going on in advance.
September 16th, 2006 at 9:05 am
Yep, it’s funny how some people do not get the message and think they can get away with being late by saying “that’s me” or “I always am late” is acceptable. Part of the issue I believe is consequences. If there are no consequences of being late then people will show up late. Of course the scientfic community may come up with a late gene to explain it all. Watch this space!:grin:
November 30th, 2006 at 8:36 pm
I think it depends on the nature of the job. I for one, think that punctuality should not be relevant to office work (I work in IT) where you are supposed to finish a given project on a specified deadline. I believe the only reasons to ask an IT guy to come to the office early are for team discussions or meetings with the client. As for doing the job, you are required to do whatever it takes, for how long it takes. It is not uncommon to see programmers working well into the night… so why count it against them when they prefer to get in late in the mornings?
Let’s face it, there are “morning people” and “night people”. If a really talented “night” guy was to enter your company, would you ask him to come in at 7AM or 8AM even though his productivity is hampered?